


match cut

by lady_peony



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Canon Era, Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8827288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_peony/pseuds/lady_peony
Summary: Parts that he has played before stay with him sometimes, lines from his lips made sincere by muscle memory. Feelings don't always come so clear.





	

Another report returned, another fee collected. Should he take a look at the bounty postings on the board today?

He considers it. Fetches his phone from his sleeve and opens it up, squints at the reception bars in the corner. Signals were never too reliable, depending on the vaunted history of the clan holdings.

The screen brightens in front of him, to his pleasant surprise. Even exorcists needed to move with the times, he supposed.

From his calendar, he has filming three days in a row next week, making allowances for retakes a short time after. Some required appearances for promotions the week after that. A hotel commercial that his agent had promised to pencil in.

Wait, no, that's right. He flicks back to another page on the calendar. The commercial was two hours from now. Today.

He dims the screen. He's unsure if he has enough time to grab a meal from a convenience store and finish it, not if he needed to get back to the apartment soon to wait for the agency's car. Makeup and costuming on the location would take time as well.

He might need to change; his robes today were well and fine for an exorcist meeting, but would definitely raise eyebrows on set.

Some shiki glance over him in acknowledgement as he walks by, float out of his path around him. A rabbit-eared creature with a half-mask and a spear in a human hand; the veil of a _uchikatsugi_ shifts as if from a breeze, the shiki beneath it vulpine-eyed.

Ah, free catering. One of the nicer points of these meetings, he thinks, stopping by a table. 

He lifts the food to his mouth, chews, swallows. The clan he had visited today had more Westernized tastes, for sure. 

The pastry isn't half bad. The blueberries glide over his tongue, but the aftertaste too tart, too heavy for his own preference.

It's not enough to fully sate his hunger, but it should be enough to ease his stomach's complaints.

"Master."

His foot had just reached the end of the stairway to the final step, onto the forest path leading away from the mansion.

"Is there danger, Hiiragi?" 

Usually not, not with this many exorcists and wards around a human dwelling. 

"No. It is only that you still have something in your hand."

He looks down to his palm to see a second blueberry tart, round and shiny with glaze. Crumbs from the crust have already speckled the edge of his sleeve, and he shakes them off as gently as he can.

Funny. These weren't even his favorite kind of sweet.

He must have been hungrier than he thought if he had carried a second one with him without noticing. He tips the tart into his mouth, swallows it whole.

 

—

 

There is something in the corner of the stairwell.

At least he thinks there is. He takes off his glasses, tries to see if the shape would resolve itself. He wonders if the shadow there was by an ayakashi or human hand.

The house he is in this time is a little more rundown, dimmer in lighting and sounds more hollow in the empty spaces. This clan's firstborn has been showing to fewer and fewer of other gatherings the last couple months, from what Shuuichi has heard. And the times he has, the lines on his face are always more shadowed, the company around him more dwindled in number. 

Oh, that is what it was. 

Shuuichi recognizes the shape now. A ward, half-drawn on the wall, and a dark stain beneath it in the corner.

The strokes are in his own hand.

( _—Drawing it would go considerably more smoothly by going from the inside strokes to the outside._

A snippy reply follows. _I'm just practicing these in a quiet place to test my memory. Give me some space._

Shuuichi is not sure if he has gotten better at ignoring the other boy or tolerating him. He takes a step back from the wall, where he had one hand over a piece of a parchment, the other with a brush. More parchment is piled haphazardly against the corner of the stairway. 

The other boy doesn't move back at all, merely slips around Shuuichi's side to hover over his left shoulder.

_Hey! Watch out for my stuff there. I'm going to reuse that paper you know._

A brief shoving for positions ensues until someone's foot kicks out, collides with the bottle of ink that had been standing by Shuuichi's ankle.

Both freeze. The bottle bounces down the first step, its cap rattling loose, then bounces down another, and another, ink sloshing a dark trail until it's out of sight. A final hollow-sounding bounce, a last gasping splash, and an angry shout. 

Shuuichi and the other boy stare at each other, knows that their own wide-eyed looks are mirrored on the other's face.

A hand on Shuuichi's own, pulls him forward. They hurtle ahead, feet thudding up one flight of stairs and another. Finally, down a hallway, empty of everything else but sunlight seeping through paper-thin walls. 

They let go of each other then.

Shuuichi's chest is still beating in double-time with adrenaline, and he leans forward to put his hands on his knees. Tries to suck in air to his lungs.

_You...you could have left me behind._

_Really...You should...You should have more sense...to avoid danger._ Seiji is laughing between his own gasps for breath, the sound coming out in uncontrollable bursts, and Shuuichi forgets to berate him for the loss of parchment. ) 

__

__—_ _

__

__"Natori-san?"_ _

__"Hmm. What is it?" Shuuichi looks up from his empty coffee cup. Natsume has already finished his dinner plate; he sets down his own mug of coffee onto the table._ _

__If he needed to drag Natsume around with him as a part-time assistant, at least he could pay for a meal before Natsume headed home._ _

__"Today you seemed..." Natsume hesitates, then seems to muster up a gust of courage. "You seemed a little down about something. I said before that if there's a problem, I would like to help if I can. Or even just listen to you talk about it."_ _

__"If there's a problem, huh..."_ _

__A waitress stops by to clear the plates, and Shuuichi looks away to ask for the bill. Throws in a complimentary wink and autograph on a napkin when she asks about his upcoming film. They clear out from the table soon after._ _

__"Thanks Natsume, for saying that," Shuuchi says. Pulls in his jacket tighter against his shoulders as the evening chill hits them both. He says, also, in a louder voice, "Tell Fujiwara-san that her jam was delicious."_ _

__Natsume beams at him. "I'm glad. And Touko-san will be glad to hear that."_ _

__"By the way," Shuuichi says, "Where is that adorable bodyguard of yours? I can ask Hiiragi or Sasago to follow you a bit of the way home."_ _

__A sigh from Natsume, muffled a bit behind his scarf. "Sensei said he was leaving early. I was surprised he didn't want free food. He said something about a moon-viewing party with the others."_ _

__"Full moon tonight, then," Shuuichi murmurs. Looks up into the sky, brushes away a name from his thoughts as one would with a wayward moth._ _

__

__—_ _

__

__"Natori-kun! Natori-kun!"_ _

__He turns to the sound of the voice._ _

__One of the actresses he had costarred with trips towards him. Her hair is piled above her head, the previous silver-blonde now reddish-brown, courtesy of her latest hairstylist. There are glints from gold speckles scattered on the collar of her black dress and the long hem, gliding across the ground._ _

__He bends in his arm and elbow, wrist to his heart, bows as gracefully as he can while still holding his glass. "How may I be of service, madamoiselle?"_ _

__She giggles. "Ah, Natori-kun! You'll make my darling jealous. Anyways, my dear here says he knows someone from your hometown!" She tugs on the arm of a suited man with a dark suit and a gold tie, who smiles indulgently at her words. He has dark hair a little longer than his ears, thick brows which give a look of deep concentration. His expression is perfectly polite when he switches his gaze to Shuuichi._ _

__"Ah, forgive my rudeness. Natori-san, was it? There was a different guest I invited who said he grew up in the same area as you had. Do you know each other?"_ _

__Another man moves forward into view. Shuuichi stares._ _

__Dark shoes tap to a stop on white marble. Higher up, a dark suit, buttoned, perfectly unwrinkled. Dark hair, long. And the face..._ _

__Shuuichi's tongue moves before his mind can. "Yes, we've met. In passing."_ _

__Across from him, he knows: Matoba's eye is making the same evaluation, going over Shuuichi's outfit. Aware probably, of the two or three spots where Shuuichi had hidden emergency tools; rolled paper, a thimble of ink. Just in case._ _

__Matoba's own smile answers, bright as chandelier light reflecting off its glass crystals. "He's correct. You could say we are acquainted, Natori-san and I."_ _

__"Well!" The actress's darling seems more cheerful now. "I told Matoba-sama here to come join this gathering to see some young people. As responsible as he is, a little fun doesn't always hurt, does it?"_ _

__"He always has been the very responsible type," Shuuichi says._ _

__Matoba's tips his head down only slightly, as if Shuuichi's words were a compliment._ _

__"Have you seen Natori's last film?" The actress asks, turning to Matoba. "He was such a helpful co-star with his advice for difficult scenes! And so emotional in his performance!"_ _

__"I haven't the pleasure," Matoba says. "Though I'm sure he put in his best effort, like most things he does."_ _

__"Is that so?" Shuuichi says, takes a sip of the champagne from his glass. "We'll get you a ticket next time for the best seats at the first viewing."_ _

__The actress's smile doesn't go away, though it turns more questioning as she looks between Shuuichi and Matoba._ _

__"If you excuse me," Matoba says then, turns his gaze to the actress and her darling. "I am feeling a little tired this evening and am expected at home. Please do call us again if you have a need." He bows a little for politeness's sake, then walks into the crowd, a dark spot covered up soon by frothing colors._ _

__Shuuichi finishes his champagne glass. Makes his own excuses minutes after that, leaves with smiles from everyone else._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Minor manga spoilers if you can spot them. Consider this an emotional successor to [in your periphery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3787219).
> 
> both of you ~~get together~~ get your acts together.


End file.
